


The Quack Attack and the Unlikely Saviour

by ObstinaReed



Series: Wessa Honeymoon Stories [4]
Category: Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, Wessa, Wessa honeymoon stories, let me guess you had the lemonade, never trust a duck, pre-honeymoon story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObstinaReed/pseuds/ObstinaReed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Era:: Victorian.<br/>Characters:: William Herondale and Theresa Gray, James Carstairs and Cecily Herondale, Magnus Bane -- belong to The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare; Ernest the DuckDuke belongs to me.<br/>Author:: Ms. Reed.<br/>Summary:: After everything William Herondale had done for the Clave and Silent Brothers, a long relief from his Shadowhunter-duties was the least they could do to thank him. Such freedom enabled him and his newly wedded wife Theresa Gray to travel the world for three months and enjoy their honeymoon to the fullest.<br/>If only the ducks weren't following them everywhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quack Attack and the Unlikely Saviour

**It was the first of April 1880. and the sun was shining in London,** shooting diamonds of white light down at people who were walking slowly around the Hyde Park, immersed in conversation. There was four of them -- two boys and two girls, all well-dressed, proper gentlemen and ladies. One of the boys and one of the girls were apparently siblings -- they both had dark hairs, colour of the night; and their blue eyes were blazing sapphires crashing into amethyst. The other boy was pale and had sort of an odd coloured, silvery hair and a pair of matching eyes. The other girl was tall for a lady; still, both young gentlemen were taller than her; she had plain brown hair and intelligent gray eyes. Their names were, respectively, Mr. William Herondale, Miss Cecily Herondale, Mr. James Carstairs and Miss Theresa Gray, the latter soon to become Mrs. Theresa Herondale.

"Help! Oh, by the Angel, someone help me!" Will was shouting.

Tessa and Cecily had walked far ahead and now they stopped and turned to see the speck that was Will, moving as if he was fighting someone with a sword, but there was no one there but him. Jem wandered off somewhere out of sight as usual, probably to fetch some kind of rare flower for Cecily.

"You go on and find Jem, Cecy. I'll go and see what all this fuss is about," Tessa said.

Cecily nodded in agreement and turned to go, sparing one more uncertain glance back at her possibly crazy brother who was jumping up and down in the distance, still shouting, waving hands and running around in circles. He reminded her of a circus monkey.

"Will!" Tessa was running toward him, her skirts gathered in her hands as she progressed. "Will!" she repeated, "what, in Heaven's name, is going on?"

Will moved to the side as he turned, thus enabling her to see the thing he was pointing at.

She stared at the small, feathery creature that appeared to be hugging Will's leg. "Aw," Tessa squealed, "he's so adorable!"

"What?!" Will was astonished. "This odious creature just bit me! And it won't let go of my leg! What could possibly be 'adorable' about that?!"

"Will, it's only a duck," Tessa said hiding a smile.

"Only a duck?!" Will sounded indignant. "Only a monster is what it is! Did you know it was mocking me just before you arrived? It called me names!"

"It... what?" Tessa blinked in confusion. "Will, please be serious for a moment--"

"I _AM_ being serious!" countered Will, "bloody little beast was quacking around without shame when I--"

"Quack quack!" the duck interrupted.

"Oh, shut up!" Will snapped. "She doesn't care what your name is!"

"Will, what--"

"Quack!" the duck repeated.

"Oh, bother! Fine. Tessa, the DuckDuke here would like me to tell you its... _his_ name is, in fact, Ernest, and not 'Bloody Little Beast', as I like to call it... _him_." He turned to look down at the duck, "There! Are you happy now? You annoying little, preposterous--"

What particular annoying little preposterous thing Ernest was, Tessa did not find out, because at that precise moment the duck let go of Will's leg and started thrashing its wings wildly, hitting Will across the stomach, arms and, finally, face, as it went. Will resumed his earlier endeavour of jumping up and down and running in circles in an attempt to free himself from the insulted bird that was attacking him.

Tessa stared. "Oh, my. It's almost as if he... understood you."

"Of course he understood me," Will said through gritted teeth while positioning his hands protectively in front of his face. "Jem and I talked to it about its cannibalistic cousins just the other day. Pretty pissed off we got it, too. It wouldn't stop quacking about its noble origins and... Ouch!" Will rubbed the spot above his right eyebrow where Ernest the DuckDuke had just struck. "It bit me again!" Will shouted and then, as an afterthought, he muttered, "I hate ducks."

"You said he bit you, earlier, and just now," Tessa began, "How can he bite you when he doesn't have actual teeth?"

"You never get tired of asking questions, do you? It pinched me, if you prefer! Can't you see that I am bleeding? I'm in a dreadful state! Will you help me, or not?"

Tessa couldn't help but laugh.

"You find this amusing?" Will asked in a low voice.

"I cannot help it, you are such a drama queen. No one would ever believe you if you told them you were a Shadowhunter, _a mighty demon-fighting warrior_."

Will frowned at her, and Ernest the DuckDuke turned around to look at her.

Tessa used this opportunity to speak to him: "Good day, Mr. DuckDuke, my name is Theresa Gray and I am very pleased to meet you." She smiled politely. "May I call you Ernest?"

"Quack," the DuckDuke said.

"Oh, thank you," Tessa replied cheerfully. "Now, I know how Will can be completely insensitive and even rude sometimes, but I beg you to pardon him and believe me when I say that he is, in fact, pure goodness at heart. I can assure you of this because I know him better than anyone, for he is mine, and I am certain he didn't mean to offend you."

Will smiled brilliantly upon her saying "he is mine". Both he and the DuckDuke stared at her in amazement.

"Quack quack quack," Ernest said finally, and with a swish of feathers he turned and trotted off into the shade of the trees, leaving Tessa and Will alone in the grass.

"Thank you!" Will said after a minute or two, with stars in his eyes. "You saved me! I... I cannot thank you enough. And with kind words as such! I feel unworthy of you, my love."

"Oh, but you are. Worthy, I mean," she quickly added seeing him flinch. They were standing closer to each other now and Will raised his hand to cup her face. He was leaning in for a kiss when they heard footsteps approaching and, soon enough, Jem's voice drifting through the meadow before he reached them.

"Friends! What happened? How did you manage to get rid of Ernest?" Jem was asking.

"Who is Ernest? What, in the name of the Angel, are you talking about?" inquired Cecily appearing from behind him. "You're not going on about evil, talking ducks again, are you, William?" she demanded of her older brother, piercing him with a solemn gaze. He grinned like a naughty child proud of his mischief.

"Come now, Cecy, Will and I did talk to them the other day--"

"Talked?! Goodness me!" She turned to Tessa, "They must have been out in the sun for too long."

Tessa gave her a sympathetic look.

"Tessa talked to it too!" Will exclaimed cheerfully. "You just missed it! She was very kind to it, and persuaded the blasted beast to leave me alone, thank you very much." Tessa looked at him scornfully, so he quickly amended, "The DuckDuke! I... I meant to say the DuckDuke, NOT _the blasted beast_." He smiled broadly.

Cecily was standing very still, simply gaping at Will, her expression incredulous. Abruptly, she turned to Tessa, "If you don't tell him to shut up, I most certainly will."

"Will, please do stop. You're making us all sound silly," Tessa said.

"Silly indeed!" agreed Cecily.

"Let us go back to the Institute for a glass of lemonade," Tessa continued, "It will do us good to remove ourselves from the sun and I, for one, could use a refreshment. Aren't you thirsty?"

"Now that you mention it," said Jem, "I truly am."

"Yes, this heated weather has drained all past London rains out of me as well," Cecy said, "We should hurry back."

Will started to protest, but Tessa interrupted him before he could complete a single sentence -- "Besides, we do have to organize the last few details for the wedding, Will."

"That is all very well, Tess, but why you won't let me make a _lemonade_ joke is beyond me."

"What lemonade joke?" inquired Jem.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" said Will with a grin, "With all those warlock powders Magnus keeps chatting about in the Institute these days--"

"He is procuring a travelling powder for us, Will," Tessa said not without blushing. "It has nothing to do with the kind of powder you were referring to."

"Oh? And what kind of powder might that be, which I was referring to, do enlighten us, please?" His smile grew bigger.

"Oh, just shut up and walk."


End file.
